Gita Series – 136: Bhagavad Gita Chapter XIII. Verse 29 – 35:
“The one who understands that all actions are done by Prakṛuti alone and not by the soul, who merely acts as a witness, is the beholder of truth. When one perceives, that all the individual entities originate from the Brahman and disseminate, he becomes one with the Brahman. The Brahman, without beginning, devoid of attributes and imperishable, dwells in the body, but, neither partakes in any actions, nor gets tainted. Like the all permeating ether that remains untainted, because of its subtle nature, the Self, though pervades in the entire body, does not get tainted. Just like the sun illuminating the entire world, He illuminates the entire kṣetra. Those who understand the difference between kṣetra and kṣetrajña, and the process of liberation from Prakṛuti and its evolutes, go to the Supreme.”
Krishna begins to conclude this Bhagavad gita chapter by highlighting his teachings in a concise manner. For example, a body is considered as the field, where matter originates, evolves and dissolves. The matter cannot function on its own without energy being infused. The matter remains inert without being activated by energy. This energy is known as soul. When the energy is infused, actions in the field take place and if the energy is withdrawn, all the actions come to a close, thereby meaning birth and death. The soul is the cause for all the actions, but does not involve in any actions. Since the soul acts merely as a witness to all the actions, it remains the same without any modifications. Soul is the direct representative of the Self. Innumerable souls constitute the Self or the Brahman or the Lord. In all the individual souls, the Self remains the same, be it a human or an insect. All these souls originate from the Brahman, sustained by the Brahman and dissolves into the Brahman. To put it the other way, all the souls disseminate from the Brahman to get absorbed again into the Brahman during the annihilation of the universe. Ultimately, it is only the soul that becomes responsible, to cause actions, when manifested through a gross form. Men bound by ignorance fail to realise this truth and consider, that the body is responsible for all the actions. Due to delusion, they tend to forget the source for all the actions of the body. Though, the soul is the cause for all the actions, it is only in the Prakṛuti, all the actions take place. Therefore, all the actions are done only by Prakṛuti, deriving energy from the soul. No actions take place in a soul, who is majestically seated as witness watching the unfolding actions. Krishna says that the one, who understands this, becomes one with the Brahman.
Irrespective of the nature of actions, either good or bad, a soul is not affected in any way. It remains the same, births after births and at all the times. A soul can be explained as the Brahman Himself or a direct representative of the Brahman. An individual soul is in no way different from the Brahman, in confirmation of the theory of His omnipresence. Because of the subtle nature of the Brahman, He remains omnipresent and is able to pervade every nook and corner of the universe. Even in a physical body, He pervades everywhere, in every blood cell, every neuron, etc. Only for the purpose of easy understanding, it is said that He is seated in heart. If He is seated only in the heart, His omnipresence nature becomes disputable. Krishna draws comparison to the sun. Like the sun illuminating the entire galaxy, the soul infuses energy to the entire body.
A soul gets liberated only if it does not unite with the Prakṛuti, because, all the actions take place only in the field of Prakṛuti. When a soul merges into the Brahman ahead of annihilation of the universe, is known as liberation. When a person understands the difference between puruṣa and Prakṛuti; and kṣetrajña and kṣetra, based on the above discussions, he gets liberated from the afflictions of Prakṛuti and his soul goes back to its source of origin, the Lord. The source of his understanding could be meditation, knowledge or devotion. When one purses the path of devotion, he automatically attains knowledge, as a true devotee becomes very dear to the Lord, who becomes his spiritual master.
CHAPTER 13 OF BHAGAVAD GITA IS CONCLUDED
Further Readings:
Bhagavad Gita Chapter XIII. 19 - 23
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